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Sunprint Printmaking Experiments – Try Something New Every Month

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Experimenting with Sunprints - A cool paper that dyes in the sun, great for kids crafts and nature play! Swoodsonsays.com

Inspired by last month’s Inkodye adventures, I pulled out a Sunprint kit that my brother gave me a few years ago. I had asked for it because it looked cool (and it is) but just let it sit, unappreciated, in my craft room. Try Something New Every Month, TSNEM, has been all about trying new things AND actually using supplies I already have so this was a great month! You can see more about the TSNEM project and previous months’ activities in this post.

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This is the kit* I used, but Amazon has a more economical option in this kit*, $6 for 15 4 X 6 sheets & a Plexiglass sheet. It’s all very user friendly, you stick the sheet out in the sun with objects on top (and/or under the Plexiglass), let it sit for a few minutes, rinse it in cold water, and you’re done!

I experimented with a few different materials. I had initially thought this would be a fun activity to do with my son (almost 3), but he did not have the patience to leave all the things in place. We gathered a bunch of materials on a nature walk and then.. he dumped them all over the side of the deck instead of helping me arrange them on the sheets. Haha! Toddlers. This would be a fun idea with an older kid, I think.

Magnet sunprint

At naptime, I decided to play with a few sewing notions instead.

in process sunprint

Rinsing it in cold water after a few minutes, it looks like the images have disappeared! Don’t despair.

sewing sunprint

Once it dries out, the blue deepens and the images remain. You can see that the most 3D elements show up the worst, and shadows interfered.

sunprint paper

I used magnet letters and they let some light through, showing the magnets! I didn’t expect that but it was a cool effect.

sunprint scissors

One warning is that washi tape takes the dye off! I initially taped this up by the corners and changed my mind, and the tape ripped the blue off.

sunprint in action

Another experiment, the pinecone quickly blew off. You can see I used the Plexiglass sheet since the weeds were shallow enough.

Organic sunprint cyanotype

I think this is pretty! Botanical prints are common with cyanotypes and it’s easy to see why.

dinosaur sunprint after

Next I thought I’d play with dinosaurs – this was before I’d really analyzed the other results since I was putting them all out at the same time.

dino sunprint before

Yikes. They turned out the most difficult to make out – they cast the biggest shadows and the worst “profile” images.

So! Sunprints are fun. I have several sheets left in case inspiration strikes, otherwise we can use them together next summer once he can get a little more into it.

Experimenting with Sunprints - A cool paper that dyes in the sun, great for kids crafts and nature play! Swoodsonsays.com

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Katy M.

Monday 19th of October 2015

Oh, I feel like Louis would love experimenting with this!!

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